Heel patch for locomotive siphons



oct. 12, 1943.

E. H. HEIDEL HEEL PATCH Fon LocoMoTIvE sYPHoNs Filed sept. 23, 1940. 2 sheets-sheet 1 0. un 0e Qu oa eo 0a o no ne 00 o. ce o0 ou on oo on eo z MW Edd/md Weiz/y BY #Cif aaa/5.

Oct. ,12, 1943. E H HElDEL 2,331,552

HEEL PATCH FOR LocoMoTIw/ E sYPHoNs l Filed sept. 23, 1940 2 sheets-sheet 2 Patented Oct. 12, 1943 HEEILPATCHr yFOR -LOCOMOTIVE ASIPHONS y Edward Henry Hedel, Milwaukee, Wis. f'Application September 23, 1940, SerialNo. 357,894@ 2 clanes. (01; 122-68) In steam locomotives a VYconsiderable* increase of' I`'steam-generatingeiciency rhas been accomplished inrecent years-by thefprovision of a special type of Water heating -tube called a Siphon.- The siphon is a large latconduit or water leg extendingthroughthe space formed by the iirebox and combustion chamberl of Ia locomotive boilerA from the throat-at the bottoinof the main portion of the boiler ytofthe top of the boiler. Water iiowsin througha narrow tubular-shaped neck atr thek bottom,v and,` as -it "is heated and progressively transformed to steam, lit rises rap- -idly in the siphon and ensures rapid circulation of the water in the boilerl ywith creased efficiency. i

It has long been `known' that'tthese siphons burn and deteriorate relatively fastatl-the top of the siphon,frparticularly along-the backedge thereof against which the'"combustion-l products impinge. Possibly Vheated particles carried by the gases of combustion strike this'fback edge at this point and 'have an "abrasive effect. It has been thecustom for a numberfof yearsto apply a patch at' this point; called .the heelI of consequent intheusiphon, before 'it burned thn'enough to Vbe dangerous. Becauseof the complicated shape of the siphon at this point,.these patches have been made of two parts `welded together.. .In applying' the .patch -a portion voithe original siphon .1;

hasA been cutaway and the patchwelded in its place. 'Ihe two parts .of the patchwere welded Y together approximately along. la .center. line which extended along the Vback edge of the. Siphon. Ap-

plicant `has determined that. thispractice, is.,.uni desirable for two reasonst` First, the patch .with

sive, and` second-the metalof the weldis` less resistant to burning or,ideteriorationY under Athe conditions of service than the original metal, iand this `tends to shorten the life ofI the patchi;

According to rthe v present-.invention a onepiece patch is provided in spite of the-complicated shape which has heretofore been deemed to require a two-part patch. of the `patch being-shortened by weldingor by the distortions resulting from its complicated shape, its life is, surprisingly, lengthened. When the particular shapeV required is .formed by the method of this invention, the patch islthickened inthe zone of greatest deterioration,` and the metal in this thickened Zone'canhave` the same desirable. characteristics as .the rest of ,the metal in the patch or in the Siphon.;

Additionallobjects. and advantages of thein` Instead of the .life

vention will be apparent iromthe following de-y scription and fromthe drawings, in which:

Fig. lisa somewhat diagrammatic sectional 'fragmentary view of ,ai locomotiveboler showing two siphons havingethereon the heelpatches of this invention;

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary sectional view taken approximately on the` line 2-2 of Fig: 1 ton-show ay transverse cross section of the Siphon. In both Figs. 1 andg2 the staybolts for -theimain portion of the boiler are omitted.

two parts weldedtogethern is `relatively texpen- Fig. .3 is a longitudinal sectional View through a'heel patch of thisinvention. A

Figli isa perspective View of the heel patch Fig. 5 is a planview of the the heel patch 'is made.

Fig. 6 is an exploded viewjshowingthe rst top forming block and showing removed thereblankfrom which from the blank of Fig. 5 as it has been reshaped K during the use oi ysaid block.

Fig 7 is a .correspondingwview showing the second top block and the blank of Fig. 6 as it has been reshaped-thereby.k Y

Fig'. 8 is" a similar View lshowing the nal top block,` the nal shape ofthe 'bla-nk, and thebottom forming 'block` whichis used with all 4three top blocks A preferred form ofthe invention has been chosen for illustration and description., in 'compliance Withrsecton 1888r of the Revised Statutes,

but persons-'skilled zinthe art willreadlily perceive other means'for accomplishing the'sa'me resultsand the'claims aretherefore to be construed as. broadly as possible, consistent with the prior art. y

Fig.' lshews in vertical section the' rear portion `vof a boiler Il` having siphons therein, eachloi the siphons having a patch made in accordance vwith thepresentiinvention. Conventional parts vof the boiler'include the iiredoor hole l2 through which coal is inserted byA theA reman. The portionl of the-boiler from-the door-i2 forwardly to the frontend of the throat llifis called-the rebox (the grate notbeing shown), and theportion I6 from the throat M to the diagrammatically illustrated'back.tub'eusheet-i'l isv known as :the combustion chamber. .The flames and hotv gases vre- ,.sulting. therefroml flow from the. iireboxji 3 throughv the combustion chamber l5 and yforwardly through tubes or ues beginning at" the tube sheet i'l andextending forwardly ltothe front end ofthe boiler; The ltubes and 'all of4 the internal walls of the-boi1er are inv Contact with water and hence transfer the heat from the re to the Water to generate steam.

To a large extent the steam-generating eiliciency of a. boiler depends upon the area of heating surface exposed to the hot gases. It has been common to increase the amount of heating surface by adding thermic siphons I8 and I9, as described, for example, on pages 298 to 301 of Locomotive Cyclopedia, 1938. Water flows from the throat I4 through a tubular neck 2I of the siphon into the main body of the siphon. Because a small body of water in the siphon is heated from both sides, it is heated very rapidly.

The flow of Water through the siphon due to convection is therefore quite rapid and results in an increased circulation of water throughout` the boiler. Normally a fairly large amount of the Water will be transformed into steam as it rises through the siphon and the steam will have the effect of still further increasing the circulation.

In Fig. 1 patches 23, 24 and 25 have been shown on the siphons I8 and IB. The chief deterioration of the main portions of the siphons occurs in the zone indicated by the arrows 26, namely near the top of each siphon and at the rear center line thereof. Accordingly, the patches 23 and 25 are the ones most commonly used but sometimes a patch is required at the front side of siphon I9, as at the position of the patch 2t. The sweep of the llames along the central and lower parts of the siphons is obstructed by rarches 21.

The patch made in accordance with this invention is shown best in Fig. .-4 with the cross section thereof seen in Fig. 3. These patches correspond very closely in general shape to the portion of the siphon which they replace. In applying them, the defective portion of the siphon is cut away and the patch is applied in its place by autogenous butt welding.

It will be observed from Figs. 3 and Il that the patches are of a very complex shape to be formed by reshaping a ilat piece of metal. The difficulty of reforming the plate cannot fully be appreciated from visualizing the drawings alone be- -cause it is difficult to realize the size of the parts involved and hence the depth of draw required. This can better be realized by noting that the blank 28 shown in Fig. 5 measures over 3 feet across from tip to tip.

The method of forming the patch is shown in Figs. to 8. The blank 28 Yis drawn approxi- `mately to scale, and according to one manufacturers process is made of inch stock. The blank 28, suitably heated, is positioned over the bottom block or forming die 3|, and therst top block 32 is dropped thereon to shape the blank 28 to the first intermediate stage shown at 28a. .It will be observed that along the longitudinal center line 33 the blank has assumed approximately its final shape, the top block 32 being complemental along this line to the bottom block 3 I. Next, the second top block 34 is dropped on the intermediate blank 28a, which may have been reheated if necessary, and the blank is shaped by it to the second intermediate stage 28h. Finally, the final top block 36 is dropped on the blank 28h, which is still (or again after reheating) positioned on the bottom block 3I. The top block 36 is complemental to the bottom block 3| with the blank or uniinished patch 23e thereon, and hence this is the final step of the reshaping process. Subsequently, the patch is trimmed to the outlines desired and provided with the necessary staybolt holes 38 for staybolts extending through the patch and the holes 39 for rivets for securing the patch to the crown sheets of the boiler or for staybolts if the latter are used in place of rivets.

By reshaping the block through the plurality of stages illustrated, excessive crimping of the blank is avoided and a very important independent result is accomplished. This is a thickening of the wall of the patch in the zone of the arrows 26-26 where the greatest deterioration occurs in use. It is not necessary, of course, to explain just how this thickening occurs, but it is obvious that in the course of the reshaping treatment described some parts must stretch and other parts must contract. The provision of the multi-stage reshaping described results in a contraction in the proper places to provide the thickening in the Zone 2li- 26. Measurements have shown this thickening to amount to approximately 1A; of an inch in the case of a inch blank. Although even a thickening of 1/3 the original thickness would obviously be important, the results are even more important than this because of course the siphon may not be allowed to burn through. If we assume, for example, that the siphon or the patch must be replaced when it is burned down to a thickness of 1A; of an inch, the increase in thickness from an initial inch to an initial 1/2 inch thickness doubles the thickness of metal in excess of the minimum and hence tends to double the length of time before the thickness reaches the minimum safe thickness.

As will be apparent from Figs.5-8, the metal in the upper portion of Fig. 5 forms the base portion of the ange, i. e. that portion of the fla-nge forming the base of the U formed by the flange and through which the hole 39 in Fig. 3 is drilled. This portion of the metal is not altered and hence retains its original thickness. As a matter of fact, the molds shown in Figs. 6, 7 and 8, act to more or less gather the metal in from the Fig. 5 shape to the Fig. 8 shape, pushing the sides inwardly so that there is very little reduction in thickness of the metal at any point, this being an inherent advantage of the molding steps shown.

Heretofore patches similar in general outline to the patch of Figs. 3 and 4 have been provided by welding two half portions along the center line. Instead of providing a thickened portion of the plate itself at the zone of most rapid deterioration, this method left a weld at this position and it has been found that the weld deteriorated more rapidly than the metal of the plate, which may be ordinary boiler plate stock. Inshort, instead of providing at the point of greatest deterioration a surface weakened or Ysoftened by welding, I `provide a section of metal which was initially of at least full strength and toughness but has been greatly increased in durability bya very substantial thickening.

I claim:

1. A heel patch for a locomotive siphon, comprising a single plate of metal shaped to form the U-shaped heel of the siphon and a securing ange extending outwardly from an edge thereof along the legs and base of the U and connected thereto with a curved portion, the outer part of the liange being in the form of an integral generally flat U lying in a, plane approximately perpendicular to the plane of a wall of the siphon, the entire flange being at least as thick, approximately, as the thinnest portion of the remainder of the patch, and the patch being thickened along that part of the common center lines of the U bases lying in the con- 10 flange.

part of the Ilange being in the form of an integral generally flat U lying in a plane approximately perpendicular to the plane of a Wall of the siphon, the flange throughout the base of said flat U being approximately as thick as the original plate from which the patch is shaped, and the patch being thickened along that part of the common center lines of the U bases lying in the connecting curve between the heel and the EDWARD HENRY HEIDEL. 

